Parking lot brawl leads to hit-and-run, 1 person in hospital

Police are attempting to sort out a violent encounter between two sets of people that has left one person hospitalized in serious condition.

A young child was inside the vehicle that became the centerpiece of an altercation captured on cameras at the convenience store at Linwood Boulevard and Indiana Avenue.

Police initially thought two men were struck by a hit-and-run driver in a white four-door vehicle. They then were told by the adults in the white car that the men were injured during an attempted carjacking as the victims fled the scene, and that a tire iron was involved.

But the surveillance video shows neither scenario is correct. Warning: The video is graphic and may upset some.

The altercation began about 4 p.m. According to a police report, one of the suspects threw a bottle at the driver of the white car, who grabbed a tire iron when the two men began to hit him. One of the men got ahold of the tire iron and hit the driver of the white car in the head with it while he was also punched and kicked, according the police report. When the woman tried to intervene, she was also hit in the head with the tire iron, police said.

One of the suspects used the tire iron to break out the white car's back windshield. The woman's son was in the backseat.

The video shows those around are on their cell phones calling for help when the man and woman the white car and several men who were on foot get into a brawl. Punches are thrown and words exchanged. At one point, one man jumps through the driver's door and leaps through the passenger side to join the melee as the young child is in the backseat.

One man smashes out the back windshield with no regard for the young boy's safety as he wails inside the vehicle.

Bystanders jump in an effort to break up the fight with one woman yelling for the store clerk to call 911. It appears the fight is over, but then there is more violence. As one of the men is walking away, the driver of the white vehicle plows over him and races out of the parking lot.

The injured man was taken to an area hospital in serious condition. The second man who was on foot was placed in handcuffs.

The white vehicle eventually stopped on Van Brunt Boulevard just east of Interstate 70, and the authorities were called. The windshield was shattered. The man and woman were clearly upset and they too left with detectives, but were not placed in handcuffs. The child was with them.

Police say the altercation began with a fight in the parking lot of the gas station. Those on foot threw a tire iron into the white car. One suspect tried to grab the vehicle as the driver left the parking lot, police said.

The man struck by the car is expected to make a full recovery. The man in handcuffs was arrested for assault, police said.

A police report obtained by KCTV5 indicates a racial slur may have been uttered before the altercation began.

The Tyler ISD board has approved the renderings of renovation plans for John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools. In May, a $198 million-dollar proposal was passed with 83% of Tyler residents in favor. According to Tim Loper, Tyler ISD’s Director of Facility Services, the plans are designed to give both campuses a new face, have a 21st century design, enhance current programs, and ease traffic flow in the surrounding areas. Cameras are currently used in the high schools, but...More >>

The Tyler ISD board has approved the renderings of renovation plans for John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools. In May, a $198 million-dollar proposal was passed with 83% of Tyler residents in favor. According to Tim Loper, Tyler ISD’s Director of Facility Services, the plans are designed to give both campuses a new face, have a 21st century design, enhance current programs, and ease traffic flow in the surrounding areas. Cameras are currently used in the high schools, but...More >>